Alice Springs jail 50 officers short despite Territory employing ‘more prison guards than ever before’
Corrections Commissioner Matthew Varley said he was still ‘recruiting hard’ in the Red Centre after the population of the already stretched system went up by 15 per cent in 18 months.
Police & Courts
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Alice Springs Prison remains understaffed by as many as 50 guards despite the Territory having “more correctional officers in our prisons than ever before”.
Corrections Commissioner Matthew Varley said while Holtze Prison was now fully-staffed, his office was still “recruiting hard” in the Red Centre after the population of the already stretched system increased by 15 per cent in the past 18 months.
Speaking on National Corrections Day on Friday, Mr Varley said the prisons’ ranks were set to grow, with another 49 officers starting work by Monday but demand was still outstripping supply.
“We’ve got more than 1000 staff across the Territory now, that’s about 150 up on where we were 18 or so months ago,” he said.
“In Darwin we’ve actually recruited beyond our authorised establishment and I’ve used that to offset some of the rotational vacancies, we’re sending staff still down to Alice Springs to help out on a rolling basis.
“In Alice Springs I would estimate that I could recruit another 50 or so officers.”
Mr Varley said much of the increase would be made up of new recruits from interstate as well as New Zealand following a targeted interjurisdictional campaign.
“These are experienced officers from interstate jurisdictions and overseas in New Zealand joining us in February,” he said.
“So we are still short in Alice Springs, I don’t shy away from that, I remind the minister all the time that we’ve more work to do about recruiting and that’s why we’ve invested those funds in the extra recruitment campaigns.”
Attorney-General and Justice Minister Chansey Peach said the government would continue to look outside the Territory to help fill the gaps.
“We’ve run targeted campaigns nationally and internationally to attract the workforce for the Alice Springs Correctional Centre,” he said.
“That commitment, that investment continues to be ongoing and we’ll continue that work to see those numbers reflected in the operations.”
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